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Appellate Division Allows Comp Retaliation Case To Proceed To Jury

Workers’ compensation retaliation claims are rare birds in New Jersey, and the case of Robinson v. Armadillo Automation, Inc. explains the standard for proving such cases.  Spencer Robinson worked as a valve technician from May 2005 until August 2011.  He alleged that when he was hired, he disclosed a prior low back condition, and he requested a stool to work while seated, a request which he said the company obliged.  The defendant disputed almost everything Robinson asserted, including that Robinson disclosed a prior condition.  The company asserted that in March 2011 it noticed Robinson was having problems standing and gave him a stool to use but not in 2005.

On April 29, 2011, Robinson felt pain in his neck while assembling a valve.  He said he reported the injury to the company vice president.  Robinson alleged that the VP refused to consider this an injury and would not take him to a doctor. So Robinson got treatment from two doctors on his own and presented a full release from his doctor effective May 12, 2011. Company records did show that the work injury was reported to the carrier.

Defendants denied ever refusing to take him to the hospital, saying the company approved plaintiff’s seeing the family doctor.  The company also maintained that when Robinson returned to work in June 2011, he was having great difficulty standing and working on incoming valve orders.  The President of the company asked Robinson to get an evaluation with his primary care doctor as to his fitness for duty.  The company claimed that Robinson never produced the family doctor clearance note.   The company also claimed that plaintiff’s production was dropping sharply.

For his part Robinson said that the company threatened for the first time to take away his stool when plaintiff tried to return to work after his work incident.    Plaintiff also argued that after his work injury, the company president and vice president complimented him on how hard-working he was.  He further averred that the company president and vice president spoke with him about retirement possibilities for the first time after his injury.  Plaintiff further claimed that he got a note from the family doctor which the company refused to honor because they wanted to speak with the doctor.  Robinson said he then signed a release permitting the company to speak directly to the family doctor, but that never happened. One fact that does not appear to be disputed in this case is that Robinson had not been written up during his employment until he failed to clock out in June 2011.  The company advised plaintiff that his production had fallen off and that the company was observing Robinson’s problems on the job.  The company also maintained that Robinson failed to clock out at lunch time six times.  For his part, Robinson said that the clock out rule was not strictly maintained and the clock was not even working well.  He admitted to not clocking out at lunch only one time.

Although virtually every statement in this case was disputed, one thing not in dispute was that the company did not give Robinson a raise on his anniversary date of May 28, 2011; he was suspended for five days on August 1, 2011; and then fired for declining productivity, failing to punch out at lunch, and failure to get a medical clearance note.

Robinson sued alleging that he was retaliated against due to filing a workers’ compensation claim.   The trial court granted the employer summary judgment but the Appellate Division reversed.  The Court adopted the McDonnell Douglas rule in a retaliation law suit requiring plaintiff to prove 1) membership in a protected class; 2) actual performance prior to termination; 3) termination from employment; and 4) the employer’s pursuit of someone to perform the same work after his termination. On the last point, plaintiff alleged that the company hired two people after he was terminated.

The employer gave non-discriminatory reasons for terminating Robinson, including poor performance, lack of productivity, failure to clock out and failure to get medical clearance.  Robinson in turn argued that these were all pretextual.  He argued that his production never dropped after he returned to work even though the company tried to take away his stool.  He pointed out that he had never been disciplined until after he filed the workers’ compensation claim.  He claimed he had gotten a note from his family physician and had not repeatedly failed to clock out at lunch.  His contention was that the company simply retaliated against him for filing a workers’ compensation claim.

Given the dispute in facts, the Court held that plaintiff had offered sufficient proofs to get to a jury.  “If plaintiff’s proofs are believed at trial, reasonable jurors can readily disbelieve defendants’ stated reasons for the adverse employment actions.” The case shows how problematic retaliation cases can be where the employer has no documentation or record of discipline before the work injury.  Further, the company could have easily gotten its own fitness-for-duty examination in this case rather than debate whether the family doctor would approve plaintiff’s return to work.  This was a small company with 30 employees and perhaps that explains why so little of what took place was documented in memoranda or letters, but clearly the absence of any documentation hurt the employer.

This case can be found at Robinson v. Armadillo Automation, Inc., A05927-13T3 (App. Div. July 20, 2016).

 

 

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About the Author

About the Author:

John H. Geaney, Esq. is a Shareholder and Co-Chair of Capehart Scatchard's Workers' Compensation Group. Mr. Geaney began an email newsletter entitled “Currents in Workers’ Compensation, ADA and FMLA” in 2001 in order to keep clients and readers informed on leading developments in these three areas of law. Since that time he has written over 500 newsletter updates.

Mr. Geaney is the author of Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers. The Manual is distributed by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education (NJICLE). He also authored an ADA and FMLA Manual also distributed by NJICLE. If you are interested in purchasing “Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual for Practitioners, Adjusters & Employers,” please contact NJICLE at 732-214-8500 or visit their website at www.njicle.com.

Mr. Geaney represents employers in the defense of workers’ compensation, ADA and FMLA matters. He is a Fellow of the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers of the American Bar Association. He is one of two firm representatives to the National Workers’ Compensation Defense Network.

A graduate of Holy Cross College summa cum laude, Mr. Geaney obtained his law degree from Boston College Law School.

Mr. Geaney was selected to the “New Jersey Super Lawyer” list (2005-2017, 2021 in the area of Workers’ Compensation). Only 5% of attorneys are selected to “Super Lawyers” through a peer nominated process based on independent research and peer evaluation. The Super Lawyers list is issued by Thomson Reuters. For a description of the “Super Lawyers” selection methodology, please visit https://www.superlawyers.com/about/selection_process.html

For the years 2022-2024 Mr. Geaney was selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® list in the practice area of Workers’ Compensation Law - Employers. The attorneys on this list are selected based upon the consensus opinion of leading lawyers about the professional abilities of their colleagues within the same geographical area and legal practice area. A complete description of The Best Lawyers in America® methodology can be viewed via their website at https://www.bestlawyers.com/methodology.

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Capehart Scatchard is a full service law firm with offices in Mt. Laurel and Hamilton, New Jersey. The firm represents employers and businesses in a wide variety of areas, including workers’ compensation, civil litigation, labor, environmental, business, estates and governmental affairs.

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